Democratic Decision Making In Early Canada

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Transcript of Democratic Decision Making In Early Canada

Democratic Decision Making In Early Canada By: Aisha Nawaz Quebec Act - 1774 Constitutional Act - 1791 Act of Union - 1840 British North America Act - 1867 The Quebec Act of 1774 was imposed by the British Parliament to set the new authority of the province of Quebec. The Act was for making more effective Provision for Quebec, as well as enlarging the boundaries of Quebec to include Labrador, Ile d'Anticosti and Iles de la Madeleine on the east, as well as include the Indian territory south of the Great Lakes; between the Mississippi and Ohio rivers on the west. Religious freedom was also guaranteed for the colony's Roman Catholic majority, and the Test Oath was to be simplified. It also allowed the practice of civil law to continue. The Constitutional Act of 1791 was an Act of the British Parliament creating Upper Canada and Lower Canada. This act included Upper Canada;the space west of the Ottawa River where various English-speaking Loyalists were residing and Lower Canada; the area in the east,this was known as home to the French-speaking Canadians and a few recently arrived British settlers. The terms of the Constitutional Act, stated that each province had it's own governor, who was delegated by the British Parliament. As well as, each province having an executive council articulating on the British House of Lords and the governor assigning the members of the executive council. The Act of Union included the British government being concerned by the uncontrollable contention in what had always been harmonious; calm colonies. But then later on decided that two vital reforms in the way the colonies were governed should take place. One was to reunify Upper and Lower Canada into one province with a single elected assembly. The second was to introduce responsible government, which would let the colonists have more say in making decisions about their own affairs. This caused a lot of conflict in lower Canada which was a product of the tension between English and French; it was "a struggle, not of principles, but of races". Despite the fact that in Lower Canada, French-speakers were still a majority, the English-speaking population was steadily increasing and combining the two provinces, would make the assimilation of the canadians by ensuring that English-speaking members formed a majority in a single legislative assembly, much faster. In 1840 Upper Canada became Canada West and Lower Canada became Canada East. This act also acknowledged that English would be the official language of the colony. The British American Act of 1867 faced a daunting task, in which they had to figure out how Confederation works. It was a plan to consolidate the colonies into oneself-governing unit. The new country would be called the Dominican of Canada. The Dominican of Canada included New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. It also includes the Dominican of Canada, which they planned on splitting into two provinces: Canada West, which would become Ontario and Canada East, which would become Quebec. Ottawa would be the capital of the Dominican of Canada. Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland were both engaged in the primal discussions of Confedation. They both rejected the invitation to join the new union in 1967, but eventually did. The colonies slowly worked out their differences and drafted the document called the British North America (BNA)Act. For this document to become official, it needed the approval of the British Parliament which was given on March 29 1867 the date, Canada official became a country. Canada did not receive total independence from Great Britain. Actually, the BNA Act certified that the British government would continue to have control over the country for long time. The architects believed that the American Civil War had taken place because the American Constitution had given too much power to the States and not enough to the government. They feared that the same mistake would be made in Canada. Instead, the delegates agreed that Canada would have a federal system of government. This meant that there would be two levels of decision making. One at the national level and another at the provincial level. The decisions about issues affecting the whole country, would be in the hands of a federal legislature. Each province would have it's own legislature and they would be responsible for making decisions about matters affecting the people living in the province. Thansk for watching The Quebec Act contributed to the development of democracy because it recognized that the French-speaking Canadians had less rights, than the English speaking protestants, which allowed the first appointed British Governor of Quebec (James Murray) to stand up to and fight for their rights, which now got us to where we are; civilized and well diverse community with equal rights. Not only that but, it restored the Canadian system of civil law. However the Quebec Act did not give people more say in the government. But still is one of the most important legislative pieces of history today. Quebec Acts Contribution to the development of Democracy The End The Constitutional Acts contribution to the development of Democracy The Constitutional Act of 1791 contributed to the development of democracy because it included a major step in government today because representative governments were chosen for the first time and this included: fundamental freedoms, democratic rights, mobility rights, legal rights, equality rights, language rights, and minority language education rights. The Act of Union's contribution to the development of Democracy The Act of Union was the effort of John Lambton, Earl of Durham, reports back and forth on the Affairs of British North America. And because of the Act of Union where Upper Canada became Canada West and Lower Canada became Canada East, a responsible governor was monitored that would let people have more of a say in making decisions about their own affairs. Which leads to us today, and our democratic country, where we are allowed to have a say in decision making. The BNA Acts contribution to the development of Democracy The BNA contributed to the development of democracy because in 1867, Great Britain became a constitutional monarchy (a government that is run by a group of elected officials and long line of royal family member; a king or quenn). In addition to that, the BNA Act authorized a parliamentary democracy (a type of representative or indirect democracy). The leader was to be called the prime minister and must be elected member of national legislature (by majority). Canada's federal Parliament is a bicameral legislature: as assembly made up of two house which are the House of Commons (the elected house) and Senate (where senators were appointed by the governor general to represent regions of Canada). An article about Democracy